Appeal No. 96-1827
Application 08/112,576
pending in the application.
The invention relates to “a set of pieces for playing a modified form of chess” (specification,
page 1). Claim 1 is illustrative and reads as follows:
1. A set of pieces for a modified version of chess for two players in which ownership of the
pieces may change throughout the course of the game, comprising two subsets of pieces for ownership
initially by respective players, wherein each piece has an upright stem portion having a shape which
indicates the denomination of the piece and direction indicating means for indicating the orientation of
the piece relative to a player and hence the ownership of the piece throughout the course of the game.
The references relied upon by the examiner as evidence of anticipation and obviousness are:
Wade Des. 169,230 Mar. 31, 1953
Samuels 3,947,040 Mar. 30, 1976
“Shogi,” Waddington’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Games, pages 50-51, Pan Books, London, 1984
(Waddington)
The appealed claims stand rejected as follows:
a) claims 1 through 20 under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, as failing to particularly point
out and distinctly claim the subject matter the appellant regards as the invention;
b) claims 1, 4 through 6, 9, 10 and 13 through 16 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being
anticipated by Samuels;
c) claims 2, 3, 11, 12 and 17 through 19 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over
Samuels in view of Waddington; and
2
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